Please Stop Saying — “God Told Me”

It happened again recently. I was listening to a sermon online and the preacher said, “God told me.” Apparently everyone in the congregation enjoyed it from the response I heard, but I immediately turned it off. This type of communication is becoming more prevalent in Christian circles. It’s showing up in conversations because people are hearing it from the pulpit and reading it in books they purchased from the local Christian bookstore. Perhaps it sounds spiritual or is emotionally stirring to the congregation.

Although the “God told me” method of communicating makes for interesting, suspenseful, and entertaining stories, what people need most is to hear from God. I would like to make a simple request. Please stop saying “God told me” unless the phrase is immediately followed up with a text of Scripture. Have you considered the connection between the “God told me” language and the sufficiency of Scripture? What connection does the “God told me” phrase have with the third of the Ten Commandments?

The “God Told Me” Language Violates the Sufficiency of Scripture

If God spoke to Moses from a burning bush (Ex. 3:4-6), to Samuel in the dark of night (1 Sam. 3:1-9), to Elijah in a cave (1 Kings 19:9), to John the Baptist and others at Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:9-11), and to Saul (subsequently Paul) and his traveling companions on the road leading to Damascus (Acts 9:4-7)—why would God not speak to us today? That’s a fair question, but it might surprise you to know that God does still speak to us today. He does so through His sufficient and authoritative Word.

In chapter 1 and paragraph 6 of the 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), we find these words:

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.

During the days of the Old Testament, God was communicating to prophets in order to write Holy Scripture and to prepare the way for Jesus’ birth. All of the audible communication of God has direct connection to the redemptive plan of God to save sinners. God’s direct communication with His people was not centered on what to eat for breakfast, the need to give money to a random person at a bus stop, or to go join a group of college students at a morning workout.

During the days of the New Testament, and the early church period, God’s audible voice, although rare, was connected to the redemptive plan of God in Jesus Christ. Once the Bible was completed, there was no longer any need for God to speak to people audibly or to provide direct (divine) communication. God has communicated everything necessary for faith and life, worship and service, in His sufficient Word. To use the “God told me” language violates the sufficiency of Scripture. Simply put, it needs to stop.

It’s strange that many churches that once stood courageously for the inerrancy of Scripture in the past frequently employ the “God told me” language in their pulpit today. We don’t allow Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses to play the “God told me” divine revelation card, and we shouldn’t allow Baptists or Presbyterians or Methodists or mainstream evangelicals to have a free pass on this crucial issue.

The “God told me” language majors on our stories rather than God’s story. We need more of God and less of us in our singing and preaching today. If people are genuinely hungry to hear from God, we must direct them to God’s Word. To raise children on “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so” and to emphasize the authority of God’s Word is a good thing. But, when those same children arrive in the worship service on the Lord’s Day and hear a preacher waxing eloquent about how God talked directly to him in the early hours of the morning — that’s severely inconsistent. John MacArthur writes:

Preoccupied with mystical encounters and emotional ecstasies, [many] seek ongoing revelation from heaven – meaning that, for them, the Bible alone is simply not enough. [With them], biblical revelation must be supplemented with personal “words from God,” supposed impressions from the Holy Spirit, and other subjective religious experiences. That kind of thinking is an outright rejection of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16–17). It is a recipe for far-reaching theological disaster. [1]

The “God Told Me” Language Uses God’s Name in Vain

Although some people unintentionally use the “God told me” vocabulary without understanding the implications, in other cases, certain people and preachers use the phrase as a means of claiming that they actually heard directly from God. This intentional use of God’s name is a clear violation of the third commandment (Deut. 5:11).

For whatever the reason, some people feel compelled to us God’s name as a stamp of approval on their stories, their decision to move churches, their decision to go into the ministry, or their decision to take a job transfer. Either way, it’s not true. It’s intellectually dishonest. We as evangelicals must not allow people to continually get away with using this language. We certainly shouldn’t celebrate it. Hear the word of Charles Spurgeon from a sermon he preached titled, “The Paraclete,” October 6, 1872:

Take care never to impute the vain imaginings of your fancy to Him [the Holy Spirit]. I have seen the Spirit of God shamefully dishonored by persons – I hope they were insane – who have said that they have had this and that revealed to them. There has not for some years passed over my head a single week in which I have not been pestered with the revelations of hypocrites or maniacs. Semi-lunatics are very fond of coming with messages from the Lord to me, and it may spare them some trouble if I tell them once for all that I will have none of their stupid messages… Never dream that events are revealed to you by heaven, or you may come to be like those idiots who dare impute their blatant follies to the Holy Ghost. If you feel your tongue itch to talk nonsense, trace it to the devil, not to the Spirit of God. Whatever is to be revealed by the Spirit to any of us is in the Word of God already – He adds nothing to the Bible, and never will. Let persons who have revelations of this, that, and the other, go to bed and wake up in their senses. I only wish they would follow the advice and no longer insult the Holy Ghost by laying their nonsense at His door. [2]

It is through the Word of God that we hear God proclaim to us the reality of sin (Rom. 3). From the Scriptures, we hear God declare good news that makes us wise unto salvation (2 Tim. 3:14-15). God speaks from His Word to correct us and warn us of error (2 Tim. 3:16-17). As we continue to hear God speak through His Word, we grow into spiritual maturity and experience the ongoing renewal of our minds (Rom. 12:1-2). God speaks today, but we must not cling to extrabiblical revelations. Such words are empty and impotent sayings that are more closely associated with mysticism than Christianity.

Important questions to ask when someone uses the “God told me” language:

If the “God told me” language is used in the context of a sermon preached by one of your pastors (or a guest preacher), rather than attacking him online, setup a private meeting to discuss the matter in person. Show respect and ask for specifics to be sure you are not misunderstanding.

Is this direct communication from God necessary if we already have the completed canon of Scripture (all 66 books)?

Is the person using the “God told me” language in order to manipulate you in some way?

Is the person seeking to validate their poor life decision by attaching God’s name to it?

Is the “God told me” language being employed in the context of asking for money?

Is the person using the name of God to aspire to an office in the local church?

Is the “God told me” language in direct contradiction to any doctrine or truth revealed in Scripture?

An appeal to those who preach and teach the Bible:

Remember Paul’s words to Timothy—Preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:1-5). We should preach the Word and not our stories.

According to Ecclesiastes 12:14, one day we will give an account of every secret thing and every careless word that proceeds from our mouths (Matt. 12:36).

It is our duty to maximize God and minimize ourselves in the pulpit. If people leave church services remembering your riveting story about God talking to you instead of remembering God’s Word, you’ve done the people a great disservice.

Your “God told me” language makes others who obviously don’t hear Him speak in an audible voice (everyone in the congregation) feel sub-par in their Christian life. It also serves as a means of puffing up your spiritual level to an elite status above the normal Christian. This shouldn’t be the goal in preaching.

If God didn’t actually speak to you in audible voice, please stop using the phrase, “God told me” when you’re telling stories in your sermons.

Brother pastor, if you have someone speak in your pulpit who uses that type of language, it’s your responsibility to correct it with your people. Their spiritual maturity and development depends upon you being faithful in this area.

Don’t immediately classify a friend as a lunatic or a heretic if they use the “God told me” language in their communication. However, when you hear people talking in this manner, it should serve as a big red flag. Exercise wisdom and gentleness when confronting this error among friends or church members, but in the case of calling out false teachers, mark them so that others will not be led astray.

John MacArthur, Strange Fire, (Nashville, Nelson Books, 2013), 218.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Paraclete,” October 6, 1872 [Sermon].

Will you pass this on to your friends?00010000

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52 Comments

Doc B
on February 14, 2017 at 9:52 am

Agreed.

As one good friend once told me, “If you say, ‘God told me,’, the next thing out of your mouth better be chapter and verse numbers!'”

Cindy Loveless
on February 16, 2017 at 8:03 am

I have heard God myself, so when someone says this who is any man to say it isn’t so. If you read the word, have a personal relationship with The Lord, then I think some do hear from him.
Mark 4:9
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
There’s your back up in scripture.
Believe.

Ray
on February 18, 2017 at 12:12 pm

Unfortunately, there are several people in my own church that espouse this very thing, to great detriment. Please allow two anecdotal, albeit most apropos instances.

During a time of great stress in my own life due to a physical ailment and family hardships, a dear brother came up to me in church with a very concerned look on his face. He hugged me and told me that God wanted him to give me a piece of paper he was holding. I read it in the car after church. It was a horrific dream he had about a picture on my refrigerator that was changing into grotesque faces, making me scream. It startled him so much that he woke up, heart pounding from the dream. He jotted down the time and told me that it also could be important. He would get back to me when the Lord revealed the meaning of the dream. If I were not a Christian who is mature in my faith, this would have rattled me to the core. I actually saw this as an attack from the enemy. He was so sincere in his intention for me but that dream was not from the Lord. I figured it was from something he had either eaten or watched before bedtime, but because of unbiblical teaching he obviously has been receiving he perceived it to be “prophetic.”

Last Sunday a dear lady in my church approached me with a new Bible she had just bought. I was glad to see that it was a solid translation, one which I myself would heartily recommend. She told me, “The saleswoman came to me and said that God told her to give me this one. I said that if God told her that I better not get another one because I have to obey God. If God told her that, I knew this was what I had to buy.”

This dear sister from my church is very young in the faith. So what if the woman would have told her to buy “Jesus Calling” from Sarah Young? Or a very poor paraphrase of the Bible? Or some other book that disseminates unbiblical information about God. And please do not come back with, “Well, the Holy Spirit would never tell someone to get detrimental material.” That isn’t the point. This woman bought this particular Bible because the” Lord” told her to buy it through this stranger who was the salesperson and she couldn’t “argue with the voice of God.”

There is the danger. You may clamor about discernment, but discernment is very lacking in the Church today. For me, God speaking through the Scripture is enough. Does He guide me? All the time as Proverbs 16:9 states: The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. I never hear God’s voice but I know my life is in His hands. Oh wait! I DO hear His voice. He speaks loudly and clearly as I read and study His Word. And I am totally blessed!

Josh, I appreciate the length you went to honor the sacredness of what is attributed to God’s voice. After reading your post, I wish to submit the following: If the Scriptures are the lone source of God’s communication today, how then do we apply the declaration of Jesus in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” ? I wonder also what we do with the seven times in Revelation 2 & 3 when we are commanded by Jesus to hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. We clearly see biblical evidence of the Holy Spirit speaking to Peter in Acts 10:19, the Holy Spirit speaking to the church at Antioch in separating Paul and Barnabas for specific missionary work in Acts 13, and the Holy Spirit forbidding Paul from ministering in Asia in Acts 19. My guess is that your answer may be that these types of things were the mode in which God spoke during the first century, but that He no longer does so. In that point, I respectfully disagree.

As a former cessationist I once taught that all of this type of revelatory activity ended at the end of the first century. I later changed my position when I could find no biblical support that clearly teaches that this change occurred. My professors and mentors taught it dogmatically, but my Bible does not. I agree wholeheartedly with you that MANY of those who use the “God told me” phrase do so for manipulative purposes. I think it is used casually and flippantly most of the time it is said – in this you and I agree. Some may not be manipulative in their motivation when saying this type of thing, but simply poor in their discernment. Yet with the abuse and misuse of communicating how it is that God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit speaks to believers today, must we necessarily conclude that God only speaks through the written Word? Should the abuse of a truth cause that truth to fall into disuse? If so, in order to be consistent, we should also remove all references to statements like, “God laid it upon my heart…”, “God called me into ministry…”, “God brought this thought into my mind…”, “God led me to…”. I appreciate and respect your ministry, and i share much in common with you concerning reformed soteriology, but I struggle with the idea that seems to be conveyed by many in the Reformed camp which concludes that the God who once spoke to His people, and the God who will speak to His people in the future, is currently the God who does not speak, but basically says that, if we want to hear from Him, just read His book and only read His book. I hope you will consider my questions as valid and not a desire to argue. I spent many years studying the Scriptures themselves to support my former views of cessationism. What i discovered was that i had plenty of dogmatic views, but very little actual bible to support them. My commitment to sola scriptura actually resulted in me abandoning the cessationist viewpoint and joyfully embracing continuationism. My change in theology led to a change in personal practice, and it grieves me to this very day that I spent the first eight years of my Christian life believing (and teaching) that God’s voice is only heard in Scripture. If we are to maintain the position that He no longer speaks, except through His Word, then how do we hear His answers when we pray for wisdom concerning things not addressed in His Word? Who called me into ministry on 12/14/94 if God does not speak apart from the written Word? If nothing else I believe their are inconsistencies in our communication on both sides of the aisle concerning this aspect of God’s leading in our lives. He either speaks or He does not. Is it your position that, apart from the written Word, god does not communicate with His elect as a normative activity? Thanks for listening/reading.

Josh Buice
on February 14, 2017 at 10:08 am

Jeff,

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to the article. To your questions, allow me to respond:

1. Regarding the John 10 passage where Jesus talks about the sheep hearing the voice of the Shepherd, we need to pay close attention to what’s happening in this text. It isn’t about divine revelation. It’s about the distinction between the sheep and goats and true Shepherd and false teachers. The “sheep / shepherd” examples provide for great illustration in Scripture for various reasons – one is because of the connection to the original audience. Context is key – and the passage is not about divine revelation.

2. Regarding Revelation 2:7, we see these words, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Immediately thereafter, we see that a letter was sent to these churches. The Spirit of God wrote the message as the Spirit of God moved upon all authors of Scripture to record the sufficient Word of God.

3. Anything in Acts must be examined by a simple question: Is this prescriptive or descriptive. Is this normative or extraordinary? In the case of miraculous gifts – including the miraculous gift of the New Testament office of prophet and apostle, they eventually passed away. So, for a time, they were used by God but are no longer needed as the completed canon of Scripture has been recorded and preserved by God for His people.

I would have answered the same way many years ago, Josh. The contemporary communicative activity of God, is actually not contemporary, but historical, according to what you answered. Jesus spoke a precept in John 10… but, according to your answer, He did not give a principle there with any continuing activity? According to your answer, Jesus never intended for us in the Church (post 1st century) to hear His voice. In Revelation 2&3, according to your answer, Jesus said only to those seven churches that the Spirit was speaking to them and, according to your answer, that again was a historical event codified in a written scroll, but which cannot be repeated again in our day to churches.

I understand the logical answer you gave but you did not address the practical questions I also asked. You mentioned the need for context for the verses I mentioned, but what is the context for the entire written Word? Is it not the Personhood of the God of the Bible, whose character never changes? Cessationist necessarily relegates the activity of God to a point in history past which may (or may not) have ongoing results. What is heartbreaking is that God seems to have been shrunken in intimacy. We can hear what He said…but we cannot hear what He is saying. That, to me, is tragic.

Rhonda
on February 14, 2017 at 10:37 am

Thank you for sharing this response! I am in agreement with you on this matter. My sheep hear my voice; they know Me and listen to me!

Jeff, with all due respect, you are taking John 10:27 out of context. John 10 is about the metaphor Jesus uses about the shepherd and his sheep. In 10:11 Jesus says that he is the good shepherd and he lays down his life for his sheep. Again in verse 15 he says that he lays down his life for his sheep. Finally in verse 17 Jesus tells us that he lays down his life. Then in verses 22-42, the end of the chapter Jesus deals with the rejection and unbelief of the Jewish leadership. In verse 25 Jesus tells these people that his miraculous signs speak for the fact that he is the messiah, the Savior that lays down his life. Then in verse 26, the verse right before 27, Jesus declairs that the Jewish religious leaders do not believe in him because they are not his sheep, see the miracles and understand his teaching for what it is and believe in him. But by contrast, those who do know him as the Savior do believe in him. That is verse 27. They hear his voice as the good shepherd who lays down his life. They believe in him. The verse applies today not in hearing Jesus’ voice in some way other than scripture revealed by the Holy Spirit, but in hearing and believing the gospel. This is born out by the very next verse, 28. Those who are Jesus’ sheep and hear his voice in the gospel, he gives eternal life and they shall never perish. All who are saved in whatever age they live are Jesus’ sheep and have heard his voice in the gospel. Context is critical. If we do not take note of the context we can make the Bible say what we want it to say. I pray God will give you understanding on this.

Richard, let me ask an objective question to ensure I understand what you are concluding about the John 10 passage (and the overall topic being discussed in this thread): Am I to understand you as saying that the elect (but not yet regenerate) are quickened to hear the voice of Jesus in order to receive the effectual call to salvation, only then to never again hear His voice once they are actually born again? In other words, they, as chosen sheep, hear the summons to repent and, subsequent to that repentance, they are then only able to hear Him speak again through the written word? He never again speaks to His own apart from the Bible? My concern is that this whole discussion is tethered to the context of individual passages of Scripture while ignoring the context of the entire bible, namely the person of God – the God who consistently speaks to His people all throughout Scripture. I have noticed that no cessationist in this discussion will simply come out and declare one way or another an answer to the objective question, “Does God communicate today to people in any means beyond the written Word?” It is a simple question. If the answer is No, then the cessationist must necessarily give answer to scores of passages which clearly indicate the active, ongoing leadership of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. If the answer is Yes, then the entire premise of Josh’s original post is invalid because it revolves around the presupposition that nobody should ever say “God told me”.

Annette
on February 15, 2017 at 8:18 am

God is GOD. He can do anything He desires to do. Including communicate how He desires. We just all need the final authority of His word to distinguish who’s voice we are hearing.Some need milk of the word and some are bettering themselves with the meat of God’s word. Just be content. God is faithful to finish what He has started in us. Amen. Amen.

Jeff, let me respond to your words about my comment. My comment was strictly concerning the interpretation of John 10. They have little to do with cessationism or Reformed theology. One can be a non-cessationist and have a correct understanding of John 10. Likewise, one can be a cessationist and have an incorrect understanding of the text. The same is true of Reformed theology. All I am saying is that John 10 cannot be use to support the view that God speaks to people outside scripture. Other texts may or may not speak to that issue. John 10 definitely does not. To pull 10:27 out of its context to make it say so is the point I’m making. Other things are a side issue and do not offer clarity, but only muddy the water. These other points you make do speak to the wider issue of the post, but they were not my point. My point is the clear meaning of John 10.

Why is it necessary to assume/dictate that what Jesus said there in the temple in John 10 is exclusively limited to only what was occurring in that moment? Could it not be that His broad statement that “My sheep hear My voice” is also a kingdom principle that has validity beyond the immediate context? Overcontextualization often suffocates legitimate application of a scriptural truth. I’m simply stating that, since His original audience did not posses the Gospel of John, they were hearing the Messiah teaching on the process of hearing and believing Him. The original context was not an exegesis of John 10, but a verbal sermon from the Savior detailing the principle that only His sheep can hear/believe/understand Him. His audience would have been hearing a principle from Him concerning relationship between the Shepherd and His sheep. It is a relational truth He is imparting here. Here we are 2,000 years subsequent to His message that day, declawing the original intent of the Savior by making a hermeneutical sets of monkey-bars which over-complicates (and undermines) the simplicity of what Jesus was teaching. What was He teaching? His sheep will discern His voice. Josh’s original post was that the only way that this occurs is through the written Word. Again, as a former cessationist, I would have declared Amen! to Josh’s point. Now, as a continuationist, I am merely trying to get a Yes or No answer from someone to the simple question, “Does Jesus still speak to His own, and can we hear His voice in any means other than the written Word?” It is a Yes or No question. This thread seems to reveal that some have other answers which are well-stated, but cannot bring themselves to answer the actual issue which Josh brought up in his original post.

truth seeking
on February 14, 2017 at 10:11 am

Hi. I have a question, several really. Firstly, how can a person say that God doesn’t still speak to people today, that He only spoke to fulfill Scripture? Wouldn’t that be limiting God? Wouldn’t that be putting Him on the same level as the wooden gods He often rebuked the Israelites for serving…the gods who couldn’t hear or speak? Granted, many people say that God has spoken to them when clearly He has not, but to say that hearing from God somehow makes one (to seem) “superior” to others, so it can’t be so, is not a valid argument to me.

Many people in the Bible didn’t hear from God as the prophets did, yet that didn’t mean God wasn’t speaking to them. When God was calling out to Samuel, Eli didn’t hear Him, yet He ‘was’ calling to Samuel.

As we see by Paul’s very own words in several parts of his letters, I’ll reference 1 Cor. 13, the gift of prophecy is still around & will be until Christ returns. Until someone can find a SCRIPTURE that says God has stopped speaking to people and nudging them on their journeys, I won’t believe it.

Blessed day.

truth seeking
on February 14, 2017 at 10:20 am

To backtrack: I apologize if my tone is a bit flippant. I am just so tired of these arguments. They’re making my head spin. Anyway, I guess it makes sense to simply stop reading cessationists’ viewpoints… 🙂

Mick
on February 14, 2017 at 11:25 am

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. – Hebrews 1:1-2

A cessationist is he who believes the Bible contains all things necessary for the knowledge of God, salvation, and spiritual life.

truth seeking
on February 14, 2017 at 12:10 pm

I note that Scripture to mean that no words should be added to or taken from the Bible. It is finished. However, I still believe, and there’s no Scripture that says otherwise, that God leads His people. I believe that His chief method is through His Word. However I also know that He reveals things outside of His Word. Too much has come to pass in my life for me not to believe. And no, these things weren’t of the enemy, because the enemy had no way of knowing what God had revealed to me, as I had not uttered these things to anyone, nor did I write them down.

I was listening to a message on this very subject the other day by RC Sproul, who too held, probably still holds, the cessationists’ view. However, after an encounter, he was left speechless! God is moving and working in His people’s lives even today. Simply for us to read and understand Scripture means He’s doing a work. We don’t serve a dead God, at least I don’t. He’s alive and well, not limited by man or his thoughts.

My question for you is this: How do you KNOW it is God speaking? How does Sproul KNOW that it was God? While I believe God most certainly still works miracles and is alive and well, there is NO possible way to know if any voice, impression, or otherwise is God actually speaking to us. It could just as well be a demonic spirit, right? We are told that Satan comes as an angel of light. How in the world could we possibly know that it is God? Even Kenneth Copeland claims that an inordinate amount of his churches’ prophecies are incorrect. SO that lead to another question–if God is never wrong but people’s prophecies have errors–then how do we reconcile this?? You see, once you open up the idea of continuationism, it is a Pandora’s box that leads to all kinds of false teachings and doctrine. No believer should ever be basing their spiritual walk on things outside of scripture.

Phil
on February 14, 2017 at 12:36 pm

Thank you for this excellent article! I’m encouraged to hear someone stand up for the sufficiency and finality of Scripture. I live in Scotland which used to be called “The Land of the Book” and it is so sad to see how churches all across Scotland have become confused on this issue. As you say, much of this is unintentional and people don’t understand the implications of their belief, but sad nevertheless. We need to appreciate the value of the Book we hold in our hand.

Renee Byrd
on February 14, 2017 at 2:31 pm

God told me to tell you that this verse doesn’t just apply to Pentecost. Peace! “In the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

Brett
on February 14, 2017 at 2:57 pm

Josh,
That’s some deeply detailed judgement you just laid out on what God is doing in many others’ life that you don’t understand(Mthw7:2). I hope you’re right before God in this. Especially since you published it for many to read.
John 5:39

The Holy Spirit does speak to us. Just because some have been wrong when they claimed to be led by God it doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak to us at all. The false teaching that God’s Holy Spirit doesn’t speak to us seems to come from those who wish to live their lives any way they want to. There is no direction for them to follow so they can marry any believer they want to. They can take any job they want to. They can live anywhere they want to. Ironically, it is those who misinterpret the sovereignty of God/choice of man in the salvation experience who tend to be the ones who want to be sovereign themselves when it comes to how they live their life. The Holy Spirit is here to guide us and He does speak to our spirit. Saying the Holy Spirit doesn’t guide and lead us is adding to the Scripture in itself.

Adam Marshall
on February 14, 2017 at 4:26 pm

Josh, this is a great article. Thank you for your insight and dedication to the sufficiency of scripture. Anyone who’s flipped through the TV channels or been to a Christian bookstore lately can see this is a problem (see Jesus Calling by Sara Young). What I hope people don’t confuse is the providence of God and “God told me”. They are two very different things. Even the most hard core cessationist would tell you that they believe God does work in our lives. But that doesn’t mean we have a direct line to God.

Adam, just to clarify my own thoughts above (if you read them): my point is not that God merely works, but that He speaks. He never does so in contradiction to His Word. He does however communicate to us according to His word. He speaks insight, direction, and specific answers to our prayers. If this isn’t true, then the only other option is that we glorify our intellectual ability to independently discern spiritual matters. If God isn’t speaking in any way beside the Word, we need not pray about any matters not specifically addressed in the Word because He will not answer. My point is that cessationism is so dogmatic on this matter that they paint themselves into a corner without considering the practical outworking of their theological position. If God is done speaking, then He isn’t leading us, calling us or answering us. Intimacy with Him is replaced with mastering the Book that He authored. That’s not relationship. That’s the academizing of the faith.

truth seeking
on February 14, 2017 at 5:04 pm

To clarify: I, too, believe that God speaks and reveals (through dreams/visions/a still, small voice). Also, I do understand the difference between providence and speaking (“God told me”); however, it seems as if cessationist don’t believe either (the speaking I know for sure). They (or you all) only seem to believe that through reading the Word we learn everything, like what career path to take, who to marry, what church we should attend, etc. when that’s simply not so.

As I said, I believe that God’s chief method is His Word (and I strongly urge everyone to start there versus relying on receiving an experience). But, He does speak and reveal things outside of Scripture – even though some abuse His name by stating He has spoken to them when He has not.

When one has a real, solid relationship with God, one can discern His voice from a counterfeit’s. (Just a thought: maybe cessationists’ have never heard God speak because they don’t believe. God works through faith. As for RC Sproul, whom I mentioned above, God spoke through someone else in order to answer his prayer [someone whom he says he hadn’t spoken to in a long while, whom had no idea what he was praying for]. We must believe that God can do all things, at all times.)

Steve H
on February 15, 2017 at 6:11 am

One of the problems with that kind of language is, taken at face value, it puts the speaker’s words on par with Scripture. One might want to ask if what their pastor is saying is to be considered inerrant?

Another issue is it can be very manipulative. If God said it who can argue against it? It becomes a spiritual bat to bludgeon the listener into submission in the wrong hands.

There are times when a person needs to express how they believe God is leading them. Other, more humble, honest ways of communicating should be explored. For example, rather than saying, God told me to plant this church in Yuma,” one might say, “I believe it is God’s will to plant a church in Yuma.” A small alteration but one that leaves room for our own fallibility and doesn’t put our ideas on the same level as Scripture.

Maybe others could suggest better ways of communicating when they want to express what they believe God is leading them to do or say….

Steve, that is a very helpful to make those distinctions. I, too, have seen spiritual abuse by those who were claiming to have a “word from God” for others, or that they were led by direct, audible communication from God. Certainly we need to hold to the sufficiency of Scripture.

However, I think Josh overstates the case in this article when he says that there is “no longer any need for God to speak to people audibly or to provide direct (divine) communication.” I agree with the audibly part, but saying that God does not communicate with His children in any way outside of Scripture I think is unbiblical. Just look at passages that speak of being “led by the Spirit of God.” Or that God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God–is that not a type of direct divine communication? What about James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Is that not a form of direct divine communication? And there are many others I could cite.

Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water in our attempt to uphold the sufficiency of Scripture and warn against the excesses and errors that are certainly widespread in Christendom. Believers do have the Holy Spirit (God Himself) indwelling them, who teaches, leads, guides, bears witness, convicts, etc. The Christian life is not without divine communication with God through the Paraclete He has given us.

Excellent thoughts, Steve. The real issue I have with Josh’s original post is the dogmatic tone in which He presupposes that anyone who says “God told me” is necessarily either disingenuous or mistaken. If each and every valid gift or ability in the Kingdom, which has been abused by someone, must be discarded, then we must throw out exegesis, evangelism, discipleship, spiritual disciplines, mission strategy, etc. – all of these practices have been abused somewhere along the line. We must never determine the validity of a teaching based on how it has been abused by someone. We judge a doctrine/practice based on the objective teaching of Scripture. We are nowhere told in Scripture that God has stopped communicating with His own. We are never told that He only communicates now through the written Word. We are never told when or why the presumed silence of God began. The very Book that Josh honors (and he is clearly a devout and committed Bible-believer) is the same Book which reveals that God is actively engaged in communicating with His people.

Terry Miller
on February 15, 2017 at 9:05 am

I believe that it was Jim Boice who said about 20 years ago that the next fight over Scripture would not be over its inspiration but its sufficiency.

Thank you, Josh, for your wonderful article. I am beyond shocked at how this subject of hearing God speak has invaded even the most conservative of churches. And, yet, so few see the red flags involved in this type of thinking. Honestly, the crazy doctrines and false teachings that continuationism is producing is just one more confirmation regarding the sufficiency of scripture.

truth seeking
on February 15, 2017 at 5:15 pm

Hello, Leslie.

To answer your question: how do I know it was God speaking, I’ve already answered that within the post.

Second, based on your argument, you sound much like the Israelites of old who didn’t believe the sent prophets of God. And no, I’m not saying that I believe there are prophets who function today as they did then, but, as I said, I do believe/know God speaks and leads us today.

Just because a few, well many, have distorted a gift, doesn’t make the gifting invalid or nonexistent. I do agree with Steve, however, that we who feel we’re being led by God in a matter should say “I believe,” as sometimes our flesh gets in the way.

Also, you asked how would we know our revelations are from God or the enemy. Well, first off, the enemy is out to destroy. Next, the enemy won’t agree or comply with biblical standards (he’ll twist them if anything).

From my personal experience, the things revealed to me, are (primarily) always about me, so I’m a bit skeptical (admittedly) when people come to me with prophecies about me (which have failed). Actually, I’m skeptical of all people who ‘call themselves’ prophet…not because I don’t believe God speaks, but because of the shenanigans of the church today. (However, this doesn’t make me disbelieve that God leads me personally.)

As far as continuationism being a “foolish doctrine,” I couldn’t disagree more, because to say that constitutes blasphemy (as it’s calling the Bible a lie). The gifts are clearly laid out in the Bible, and they will continue until Christ returns. Prophecy, as bad as a name as it’s been given, is one of those gifts.

Last of all, I’ll leave you with the words of the great theologian Matthew Henry: “God will take the way of his own wisdom and goodness, though it may be liable to abuse; He has sent inspired teachers to the world, and given us a supernatural revelation, though others may be so evil and so impudent as to pretend the same; every pretender to the divine Spirit, or to inspiration, and extraordinary illumination thereby, is not to be believed.”

Amen.

truth seeking
on February 15, 2017 at 5:31 pm

One other thing, ponder this: What would you do/say/think about a Christian who came and told you they believed the gift of godly preaching was dead because of the foolery they’ve faced in church after church. Every pastor has turned out to be a false teacher, so they refused to believe in preachers and the gift of preaching, exhorting, and will never set foot in a church again.

You’d probably think of them as a heathen, a sinner, as many do unfortunately. But, they wouldn’t be either of those… They’d simply be tired of how the church is functioning…

Kevin Brendler
on February 16, 2017 at 2:39 am

“What then, brethren? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silence in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” – 1 Corinthians 14:26-33

This is the only description we have of a first century church meeting in the NT. Revelation, tongues and multiple prophecies were the NORM. In each meeting some combination of these supernatural works of the Holy Spirit were manifest. It is not too much to say that these supernatural manifestations of the Spirit DROVE those early meetings. In other words, the revelations, tongues and prophecies were not occasional to the early church meetings; they were not peripheral and they were not incidental. No. These supernatural gifts of revelation were regular, normative and expected in the early NT assemblies.

Now, if you continuationist types belong to churches where real revelations, tongues and multiple prophecies are the SUBSTANCE of your weekly gatherings, then you have an argument to make for your position. If your weekly meetings are driven and shaped by the supernatural revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit, as in 1 Cor 14, then we at least ought to listen to you.

But if you are a continuationist and your church rarely (or never) offers a supernatural revelation, a prophecy or a tongue with interpretation, then your claim lacks credibility and must be dismissed. Your practice then would NOT stand in continuity with the kind of Spirit revelation manifest in the ONE example we have of a NT church meeting. If you are a continuationist, then your church MUST have supernatural revelations, prophecies and, at regular intervals, tongues with interpretations as the principal means of edification that drive the weekly meeting. That’s how it was in I Corinthians 14 as cited above. If such does not characterize your weekly meeting, then you are a nominal continuationist; you are a continuationist in name only. And this position cannot be held with integrity.

To sum up: if your church meeting does not fit the description of the Corinthian church in 1 Cor 14:26-33, then your claim that the supernatural revelations of the Spirit continue today is groundless. Your stance has no Biblical warrant. In fact, while being a nominal continuationist (name-only), you are actually a functional cessationist. You may wish that fresh supernatural revelations were being desposited by the Spirit in your assembly each week, but integrity demands that you admit otherwise.

On the ground, in your assembly, week by week, can you really say with an honest heart that authentic, supernatural revelation and prophecy, with tongues and interpretation on occasion, is being directly and immediately given to various individuals in the church, and that these men are channeling the Spirit’s voice to the assembly unto their edification and comfort?

If you’ve got that happening week by week, as in Corinth, then I’d like to visit your church. If not, then your claim to continuationism is simply disingenuous… disingenuous because you don’t really have a continuation of the early churches’ experience of the Holy Spirit when they came together.

truth seeking
on February 16, 2017 at 6:36 am

Wow, Kevin. Your argument is actually weaker than the author’s. We don’t do a lot of things today that was done in the NT, so would that invalidate everything? We no longer meet in homes but in churches. Does that make our church meetings vain? In fact, if many of you were told that people have exed out church buildings in favor of home meetings, you’d have plenty to say about that. Also, I don’t see men of God (at least not so much in America) being beheaded, crucified, stoned, beaten, etc., but does that make them all false preachers?

Wow. You have a good day.

Kevin Brendler
on February 16, 2017 at 10:24 am

>>We don’t do a lot of things today that was
>>done in the NT, so would that invalidate everything?

You are claiming, as a continuationist, a specific continuity with the apostolic churches in their experience of the Holy Spirit’s supernatural revelatory gifts, as manifested in 1 Cor 14:26-33.

So if your present day assembly does not manifest those same supernatural, Holy Spirit gifts in the weekly gathering, then, YES, your claim as a continuationist is invalidated.

In the same way, if you claim to have the gifts of miracles but cannot demonstrate your gift, then your claim is baseless. If you claim to have the gift of interpreting tongues but cannot demonstrate that gift, then your claim is phony. If you claim continuity with apostolic experience then you are obligated to demonstrate that same experience. Is that really so difficult to understand?

You have responded to these challenges by saying, “Well, the early church met in homes and we no longer do that either. So there.” I don’t see much of an argument here. No one claims a specific continuity with the apostolic practice of meeting in homes. It’s completely irrelevant to your claim of a specific continuity with the apostolic experience of the Holy Spirit and His supernatural revelatory gifts.

If your church has genuine prophecies, genuine supernatural revelation and genuine tongue speaking with interpretations each week when you assemble, just as the church in Corinth did, then fine, you have no need to be so defensive. If you have these supernatural revelations each week, then your case is won and your claim as a continuationist is substantiated.

But if you are going to beg off by saying, “Well, today we have preachers who are no longer martyrs,” then we understand that you really don’t have the EVIDENCE to ground your continuationist claims. When the central issue is dodged and a smokescreen is implemented, then one may not be as confident in his assertions as one would appear.

I wish you a good day, sincerely.

truth seeking
on February 16, 2017 at 11:11 am

Kevin, I feel the same way that you all, the cessationists, do. Your claims, as you say about we who are continuationists, cannot be substantiated by the Bible, especially not by the text you gave, or your version of the text you presented. Yes, my claim of what’s been revealed about my life can be substantiated, but I won’t release what’s for God and me to you all (perfect strangers who will only deny, deny, deny).

Next, before I go permanently from this useless argument, of this overall article, we are all claiming to be “Christians,” so therefore, it’s best to let bygones be bygones. You all won’t budge from your view, & we won’t from ours. We can agree on two things however: 1) Rants like these will do nothing to help the unsaved person who may stop by this blog. In seeing all the division of the church, surely they’ll want nothing to do with Christianity. And 2) Jesus Christ died to save mankind. Through His shed blood, we, who’ve accepted Christ as Lord, are now reconciled to the Father. A relationship that far outweighs anything else, and makes each of us, with our differences and all, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Blessings.

Kevin Brendler
on February 16, 2017 at 11:45 pm

>>In seeing all the division of the church, surely
>>they’ll want nothing to do with Christianity.

My friend, it is precisely your continuationist doctrine that has CREATED a huge division in the church. And for that very reason, your doctrine must be opposed and rejected. The supernatural revelatory gifts of the Spirit are no longer NORMATIVE for the people of God. Point me to a church where special revelation is being given by the Spirit, week by week, just as it was in Corinth, and then your claim may have some substance to it. In the absence of such evidence, integrity demands that you abandon your position. And for the sake of Christ’s bride, her unity and dignity, I urge you affectionately to do just that.

Truth, why do you hide
To let us slosh in the despair
Of what we subscribe to?
Or could it be
We hide from you?

Truth seeking cannot become truth finding until he comes out of hiding.

Be well.

Simple-Minded Christian
on February 17, 2017 at 12:20 am

Thank you truth seeking for apparently being led by the Lord to put an end to this because the Word says that we shouldn’t be a stumbling block! Our words and actions should be to draw others to Christ not push them away! Some of this is way over my head but I know without a doubt when Christ speaks to my heart about certain things no matter all that I have read here, so that’s all I have to say about the subject….it is a personal relationship! God bless all of you is my prayer~

Butch
on February 17, 2017 at 3:29 pm

I might be reading wrong but the article isn’t making God out to be someone impersonal. God does speaks to us by the Holy Spirit through His Word. Hebrews 1:2 says that God has spoken through His Son, who is the Word in flesh. So yes God does communicate with us personally but through scripture. If you feel led by the Holy Spirit then it is by God Word and if it doesn’t line up with scripture then it is not of God.

Neal
on February 18, 2017 at 6:46 pm

I cringe when people use the “God told me” language. If God REALLY told THEM then I want to know WHY they are telling me. Are they just bouncing it off of me to get affirmation that they are hearing God’s voice?(I used to do the same). Are they justifying a decision they have made and making it more of a spiritual decision than a thoughtful one? (I used to do the same). Are they just trying to impress others (I used to do the same). As previously mentioned, are they trying to manipulate others into financial or other support of their decision? (I don’t remember ever doing that but may have).
If God actually has spoken then it is infallible, perfect and as authoritative as the rest of the Bible but these “words from God” are never treated that way. They are almost always an experiment in “learning to hear Him” and if the experiment fails it’s okay because the hearer can always fall back on “I must have heard Him wrong” and there is no consequences for them. But try telling someone that uses “God told me” that God may not have told them and you will most likely become the devil to them.

Chris
on February 21, 2017 at 11:45 am

I think we all agree that we need to avoid extremes on both sides of this debate. Clearly, however, if we are commanded to “walk by the Spirit,” then the Spirit of God must leading us and communicating to us in some fashion. To what degree someone is warranted to use the language “God told me” under these circumstances is the rub. Certainly, an audible voice is extremely rare, if not unbiblical, but I do think we “hear His voice” in a language which does not require words. It is more of a “heart” thought, if you will.

As I have learned to walk by the Spirit, I have sensed the Holy Spirit clearly speaking to me in “thoughts without words” … such as the time I was walking into the lobby of a large office building and He spoke to my heart: “Introduce yourself to that Somalian man.” It turned out that this Somalian man was a bold Christian evangelist who needed some basic resources!

What a blessing to meet him. But even more, I was able to help him learn to drive and another ministry provided him a vehicle. I believe this is an example of walking by the Spirit, which some people would describe in terms of “God told me,” but in many cases we are saying the same thing.

Nonetheless, I agree we overuse this term and it can easily be misused and manipulative if we are not careful.

Neal
on February 21, 2017 at 10:14 pm

Chris,
I’m curious why you say hearing God’s audible voice may be unbiblical.
Most of the examples in the Bible of God speaking are His audible voice.

Kevin Brendler
on February 22, 2017 at 2:43 am

>>As I have learned to walk by the Spirit,
>>I have sensed the Holy Spirit clearly
>>speaking to me in “thoughts without words”

If we examine texts of Scripture, we don’t find that “walking by the Spirit” is associated with hearing or sensing the voice of the Spirit.

Rather, “walking in the Spirit” is associated with putting to death the deeds of the flesh.

For instance, Galatians 5:16…

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

This text has nothing to do with an inner voice issuing from the Spirit, but conveys the apostle’s admonition to mortify the deeds of the body.

Similarly, Galatians 5:24-25…

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Nothing mystical here about “thoughts without words” emanating from the Spirit;” just Paul’s pedestrian teaching that walking by the Spirit means crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires.

Take one more, Romans 8:12-14…

“So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Note carefully what the apostle associates here with being “led by the Spirit of God.”

Not the experience of hearing the audible voice of the Spirit.

Not the experience of an inner voice of the Spirit upon the heart.

Not the experience of being told by the Spirit to speak to this man or that one.

Not even some great, overwhelming experience of the Spirit’s presence.

No, none of these things are associated by Paul with being “led by the Spirit.”

What is it then? What is “walking by the Spirit?” What is being “led by the Spirit?”

Back to that unexciting, pedestrian teaching of the apostle:

“…if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live(v.13).”

That’s what it means to be “led by the Spirit (v.14).”

Not voices, but mortification.

Not great ecstatic experiences, but mortification.

Not being led here and there, but mortification.

To conclude:

Those who are mortifying the flesh (putting to death the deeds of the body) are the ones who are being led by the Spirit (the ones walking by the Spirit). And Paul goes one step further and says that those who are killing the flesh are the sons of God (v.14). That is, those who are killing the flesh are the ones who are being led by the Spirit of God, and those being so led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

Oh God, let us/me aim with greater urgency for the truly supernatural work of mortification over against the much ballyhooed yet futile work of somehow discerning the Spirit’s inner voice.

We are a generation of Christians in pursuit of the wrong things.

God be merciful to me, the sinner.

Simson
on February 21, 2017 at 9:20 pm

Good article

Simson
on February 21, 2017 at 9:20 pm

Good article

Cruz
on February 22, 2017 at 10:29 am

On the spectrum, it’s easy to jump to one end (hyper charismatic) where there is no accountability and everything is about “new revelation” and personal experiences. And it’s also easy to jump on the other end (cessationism) where God no longer directly works supernaturally be it speaking to us, miraculous healing, etc.

If one feels that God did speak to them, then accountability is needed. And testing it based on Scriptures is also needed. In my experience, I one time firmly heard “Read My Word”. God was admonishing me in a time when I was not consuming his word.

Another time, I asked God about something, and again, a firm, “Isaiah 56” was told to me. So I read it and it answered my question–I had never read the book of Isaiah before. Is this a normal or frequent thing? No. Nor do I believe that God makes it a habit to directly communicate with us when we already have all the sufficiency we need in his Word.

Now, if someone starts saying that God told them that in 7 days a comet is coming, then there’s cause for questioning the validity of it. Even smaller things are a cause for concern because personal “revelation”, while very present in Scripture, is not guaranteed to us, and all personal revelations had to do with revealing Christ or pointing back to Him. But, at the same time, it’s presumptuous to dictate how God communicates.

I find it inconsistent that throughout all Scripture, God was directly and indirectly communicating with many people, and now all of a sudden he never does it again.

Kevin Brendler
on February 22, 2017 at 6:26 pm

>>I find it inconsistent that throughout all Scripture,
>>God was directly and indirectly communicating with many
>>people, and now all of a sudden he never does it again.

Must we then charge God Himself with inconsistency because He
gave Apostles to the fledgling church and withholds them from us?
Israel had writing Prophets for centuries. Is God inconsistent
because He withholds them from us? There they were, Prophets and
Apostles, slotted for their time in redemptive history… and then,
all of a sudden, they were gone. The agents of special revelation disappeared. They vanished. And God never sent them again.

Is that inconsistency in God? Or is that simply the method by which
God chose to deliver special revelation to His people… that method
now having ceased?

“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son….” (Heb 1:1)

If God is speaking to someone, please send me the transcripts. I’ll add it to my chapters in Third Peter.

Kevin Brendler
on March 3, 2017 at 5:47 am

I must say that is a deft and choice use of sarcasm. Well done.

Linda
on March 2, 2017 at 2:14 pm

When you are out in the field witnessing to the lost, good luck if you need to carry your Bible around and look things up to know how to answer someone. Seriously? Dry head-knowledge theology won’t cut it in the real world. When confronted by a humanist or atheist or someone in the occult and you have no idea what to say as they make mince-meat of your theology, you have no choice but to rely on the Holy Spirit. He will give you the exact and precise words to say to that person at that split-second moment! So we better be alert and listening!!!

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

Kevin Brendler
on March 3, 2017 at 6:04 am

>>…and you have no idea what to say

Well, that’s the problem right there. The apostle Peter wrote, “Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you….” (1 Peter 3:15)

>>So we better be alert and listening!!!

Maybe we should just be prepared and ready.

Linda
on March 10, 2017 at 1:56 pm

Kevin,

I am not talking about being unprepared and lazy and not reading and studying the Word! I am talking about a complete reliance on the Holy Spirit to give the lost the answer they specifically need to hear. And how would you know what they need to hear? You couldn’t possibly know; only the Lord knows! That’s why we have to rely on the Holy Spirit. There are no pat answers — everyone has a different need, and often that need is what will bring them to the Lord. The Lord does not speak to us exactly the same like we’re wooden puppets. We are all individuals. We all need the Lord, but there are many different approaches to reach people, and all based on the Word of God.

Of course, you have to know the Word by studying it lots, and praying as you do for understanding, and be prepared and ready; that is a given. But we still need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide what we say.

2Ti 2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

God’s Word has to be revealed to us which we in turn share with others. And that is the work and the promise of the Holy Spirit:

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

And again, in order for the Word to come to mind, you will have to study it first.

The passage you quoted in I Peter 3:15 is in reference to those who ask you what it is that you have that they don’t have. Has anyone ever asked you without you approaching them first? If so, what did you say to them? Did you have it memorized or did it come from your heart as the Holy Spirit led you? Would you take credit for the perfect answer, or would God receive the glory because He brought it to your mind and you were able to minister to someone’s need?

We have to be very careful that we are not just giving the lost a dry theological memorized answer. They need to see a demonstration of the “something different” that sets us apart from just being religious. And to be really effective, it has to be a work of the Holy Spirit, not our own works of the flesh. Do you see the difference?

When it comes to witnessing or how we live our lives, it is either in the flesh (a reliance on ourselves), or in the Spirit (reliance on the Holy Spirit for all things). A favourite passage that talks about our own works or the works of the spirit are found in the following passage. Look at what Paul wrote:

1Co 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1Co 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Wisdom from the Spirit
1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Basically, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to do His work and this means a walk of faith and complete reliance on Him, not our own flawed limited resources. How do we know Christ is living in us? He is what we want people to see in us, not ourselves. It is the power of God that is needed in all that we do or say – I Cor 2:4-5.

Bill Kimbley
on March 7, 2017 at 12:34 am

Josh, I can appreciate your position only because I used to believe the same – that God only speaks through scripture. As a pastor, I taught this vehemently. As a Southern Baptist, I defended it powerfully. However, when I stopped looking at scripture through the lenses I was given by my seminary and simply studied it for what it says, I found that God does speak in numerous ways. Scripture does not defend your point at all. I am not being mean, but I do find it interesting that you use other pastoral positions to back up your positions rather than solid biblical exegesis. For a solid theological study that goes through every book of the bible proving God’s intent in the New Covenant is to give His Spirit and enable us to each converse with Him (never rejecting, changing, or countering the cannon of scripture), I suggest: Jon Ruthven’s, “Whats Wrong With Protestant Theology?” It is the most thorough writing on this topic out there. Yes, it is written from a Charismatic perspective. However, you have the Holy Spirit and He leads into all truth so trusting Him by faith to teach you (1Jn 2:27).

I want to give a couple of experiences where I think we would agree “God told us” even though, we might not say it that way. How did you know God wanted you to pastor the church you are at? I guess, much prayer, contemplation, searching, etc. In the end you had a peace because you felt it was God’s will. You stepped out in faith and then you were rewarded because of your faith. Well, you could say “God communicated that I should pastor here.” If He didn’t, then how do you know you are in His will by pastoring there? Was His communication to you specifically in the Bible for you to go there? No. You have likely made many decisions this way (as we all do) and find that we were prodded by the Spirit who was revealing God’s specific will for our lives. How can we know an “open door” if God does not communicate it to us? Most open doors are not specifically drawn from scripture, but through experience. Now, we go through those doors because we are not violating scriptures and we are seeking God through faith. I could outline many such experiences where we rely upon something other than the Bible to do God’s will in life. So, while cessationist pastors preach against “extra revelation” their experiences are guided by the very things they preach against. Now, if we rely upon our “peace” or “feeling” for God’s will, what is wrong if God chose to give a dream, prompting, or direct revelation in some other fashion? It is not “scripture” and we are told to “test everything” against scripture. But, if it is not against the truth in the Word of God and could be the revealed will of God, then why is it unbiblical? I find it horrible hypocritical of us to preach “intimacy in relationship” with God for our congregations but deny them the intimacy every relationship must have – direct interactions! Yes, the word is first and foremost God’s revelation to us, but He has more to reveal directly to each of us that will help us fulfill our God-given destinies.

Finally, you quoted Spurgeon. Did you ever read about the day God directly spoke to him about a man in his service? God “told him”. Note how Spurgeon implied such occurrences were not uncommon:

“There were many instances of remarkable conversions at the Music Hall; one especially was so singular that I have often related it as a proof that God sometimes guides His servants to say what they would themselves never have thought of uttering, in order that He may bless the hearer for whom the message is personally intended. While preaching in the hall, on one occasion, I deliberately pointed to a man in the midst of the crowd, and said, “There is a man sitting there, who is a shoemaker; he keeps his shop open on Sundays, it was open last Sabbath morning, he took ninepence, and there was fourpence profit out of it; his soul is sold to Satan for fourpence ! ” A city missionary, when going his rounds, met with this man, and seeing that he was reading one of my sermons, he asked the question, “Do you know Mr. Spurgeon?” “Yes,” replied the man, “I have every reason to know him, I have been to hear him; and, under his preaching, by God’s grace I have become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Shall I tell you how it happened ? I went to the Music Hall, and took my seat in the middle of the place ; Mr. Spurgeon looked at me as if he knew me, and in his sermon he pointed to me, and told the congregation that I was a shoemaker, and that I kept my shop open on Sundays ; and I did, sir. I should not have minded that; but he also said that I took ninepence the Sunday before, and that there was fourpence profit out of it. I did take ninepence that day, and fourpence was just the profit; but how he should know that, I could not tell. Then it struck me that it was God who had spoken to my soul through him, so I shut up my shop the next Sunday. At first, I was afraid to go again to hear him, lest he should tell the people more about me ; but afterwards I went, and the Lord met with me, and saved my soul.”

I could tell as many as a dozen similar cases in which I pointed at somebody in the hall without having the slightest knowledge of the person, or any idea that what I said was right, except that I believed I was moved by the Spirit to say it; and so striking has been my description, that the persons have gone away, and said to their friends, ” Come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did ; beyond a doubt, he must have been sent of God to my soul, or else he could not have described me so exactly.” And not only so, but I have known many instances in which the thoughts of men have been revealed from the pulpit. I have sometimes seen persons nudge their neighbours with their elbow, because they had got a smart hit, and they have been heard to say, when they were going out, “The preacher told us just what we said to one another when we went in at the door.”

Josh, I don’t know you. I love your passion and you vigor, but I do pray you will open your heart and study hard on this subject. Really, the best way to know is to completely open your heart to know the truth on whether God does speak in other ways and then ask Him to show you. He will. However, be honest in your pursuit of truth and do not wait haphazardly and with a bent toward one answer. This can be done quietly and without anyone knowing you are wanting to know. I did this years ago and God showed up. The greatest part of my walk in Christ is to enjoy His communion – directly and intimately, through the Word and many other ways. It is amazing!

I don’t know you, but I love you. I bless your passion for Christ – it is evident in your post.

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Delivered By Grace is a theology blog that focuses on theology, SBC, preaching, the church, and many issues within the Christian life. Delivered By Grace is edited by Josh Buice and contributed to by various other preachers and writers. Unless otherwise noted, articles are written by Josh Buice.

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